157-10005-10224) | 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |

Date:10/01/93

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TITLE
TRANSCRIPT/REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS WITH EXHIBITS
DATE : 06/02/75 . . os
PAGES : 111 ;
SUBJECTS :
HOUSTON, LAWRENCE - EXECUTIVE SESSION COMMITTEE MEETING
ee HOUSTON WAS FORMER CIA EMPLOYEE FROM 1947-1973 y

CIA OPERATIONS WITH REGARD TO CASTRO, FIDEL

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT
CLASSIFICATION : T .
RESTRICTIONS : REFERRED
CURRENT STATUS : P
DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 10/01/93

OPENING CRITERIA :

COMMENTS :
BOX 248-1

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Phone (Area 202) 544-6000

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One or two who were excellent and they wanted more, and they

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trouble come see you?
Mr. Houston. Oh, no, there's a number of times. For

instance, I think it was back in the '50's, there's a lot of

them, but a couple might illustrate -~ in those days we were 1
doing a good deal of political action abroad in the sense of.
giving guidance to factions in foreign countries that U.S.
policy favored in organizing elections. I don't mean in
rigging them, but how to get down to the grass roots, the old-
‘fashioned political advice on how to run a political campaign.

We didn't have many trained officers on this. We had

came to me with the proposition that --' this was an election year,
which one I have forgotten -- that we put officers in both the
Republican and Democratic campaign parties to get the practical
experience, and I advised -- actually, I went over and talked
with Malcolm Wilkie, who was then the legal counsel in the
Department of Justice, and this was most ill-advisable, and I
went back and they dropped tha project.

More recently, our Soimunication] fellows down in Virginia

found they could easily monitor jlong:.distance telephone.

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conversations |from Latin American to Canada, and in some cases

to New York, and these frequently carried {conversations..]

involving [narcotics)in great detail. They had no telephone,’

discipline at all, security discipline on/thetelephone). And

they would even give the name of the person who's going to

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receive the Marcdtics Jand where.

However, this immediately got us into an internal security

and a police function. I told them they had to drop it, and

they did. And it's too bad, because nobody else has found a way

of doing it, and this information is floating over our heads
right now and we cannot use it.

Mr. Schwarz. Have there been any instances where you or
your office advised the Agency that it should net do something
when nevertheless the Agency went ahead and did it?

Mr. Houston. I should think I would remember an occasion
like that, but I don't.

Senator Mondale. Thank you.

(Senator Mondale left the hearing room.)

Mr. Schwarz. Mr. Houston, with the Senator absent, you
don't have to go ahead.

Mr. Houston. Fine, fine.

Mr. Schwarz. I'm going to go on to another subject.

Does anyone else have anything else about the Robert Kennedy

meeting?

Mr. Kirbow. I have only one other question, and perhaps _

more about the leadership of the Agency.

Mr. Houston, your reputation over the some twenty-six
twenty-eight years you were General Counsel was one of intense
loyalty to the Director and the Deputy Director of the Agency.

Mr. Houston. That is correct.

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chest operator, but so far as I know he always operated in the
line of command, and something like this I think I should have
been consulted, but I can understand the operator's viewpoint.
They might have felt there were reasons why I should not be
consultad.

But just what want on in the line of command between

| Harvey and the Director I just cannot fathom this.

Mr. Schwarz. Harvey worked for Helms at the time, did
he not?

Mr. Houston. That's right.
as you understood it?

Mr. Houston. They were not too compatible as people, but
I have never known that there was any difficulty in complying
with the chain of command. I wouldn't necessarily have known

if there had been, but I didn't know it.

Mr. Wides. And Harvey had worked for Mr. Helms in Berlin?

Mr. Houston. He had been {Chite:

f:0f Station: in Berlin,

ann,

he had been Ghief,of.Station. in Rome, and I*think it was after

the Rome assignment he came back and took over the staff. |

Mr. Wides. But in connection with some of the operations

Lin: Tunnel: and other intelligence operations he
had a pretty close-working relationship with Mr. Helms?

Mr. Houston. They were all in the DDP and certainly

anything of the importance of jthe Bert.

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fufiel, they would bd

Mr. Schwarz. And what was the nature of their relationship

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1 could you think of anything which would be of benefit to this

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g 2 Committee that we have not inquired into?

< 5 Mr. Houston. The only thing I thought you might ask that --

& 4 | I thought you were going to mention it -- somewhere, and this is

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5 i Very vague in my mind, both where I heard it, in what context,
6 | and what the timing of the event was, but I have heard and I am
7 | sure you must have heard of the delivery of a sniper's rifle
8 to the Embassy in Havanna, which may have been intended for 1
9 | some sort of assassination attempt.
10 Mr. Schwarz. The Embassy when we still had an Embassy
ll || there?
12 Mr. Houston. It was apparently when we still had the

13 Embassy.

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WARD & PAUL

14 Mr. Kirbow. Was this a couched delivery, covert
15 || delivery, much like the later deliveries into the Dominican
16 Republic? |

7 Mr. Houston. I think so. |

18 I don't know much about it. I just, through a vague
19 || recollection, I don't know any details or any specifics, it's
20 || one of tha things you pick up.

21 Mr. Kirbow. When would that have bean? I am trying to

22 date when we no longer had an Embassy there.

410 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003

oe 24 || (Chiefs Tint NOl1,. and I believe he left in late 1959.
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25 Mr. Kirbow. Was that about the correct time?

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